The residual carbon content and carbon edge flux in JET have been assessed by three independent diagnostic techniques after start of plasma operation with the ITER-Like Wall (ILW) with beryllium first wall and tungsten divertor: (i) in-situ measurements with optical spectroscopy on low ionisation stages of carbon, (ii) charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy, and (iii) residual gas composition analysis in dedicated global gas balance experiments. Direct comparison experiments in L-mode discharges were carried out between references from the previously installed material configuration with plasma-facing components made of carbon-fibre composite (JET-CFC) and the JET-ILW. The temporal evolution of the C divertor flux since installation of the ILW has been studied in the ohmic phase of dedicated monitoring discharges which have been executed regularly throughout the experimental exploitation so far (60000 plasma seconds). The C flux behaviour in the divertor can be divided in three phases: initial fast drop, moderate reduction phase, and a long lasting phase with almost constant C flux. The Be flux in both divertor legs mirrors the behaviour of C. All experiments and diagnostic techniques demonstrate a strong reduction in C fluxes and C content of more than one order of magnitude with respect to JET-CFC which is in line with the reduction in long-term fuel retention due to co-deposition. There is no evidence of an increase in residual carbon in time, thus no indication that a damage of the thin tungsten coatings on CFC substrate in the divertor occurred.

This paper covers aspects of long-term evolution of intrinsic impurities in the JET tokamak with respect to the newly installed ITER-like wall (ILW). At first the changes related to the change over from the JET-C to the JET-ILW with beryllium (Be) as the main wall material and tungsten (W) in the divertor are discussed. The evolution of impurity fluxes in the newly installed W divertor with respect to studying material migration is described. In addition, a statistical analysis of transient impurity events causing significant plasma contamination and radiation losses is shown. The main findings comprise a drop in carbon content (x20) (see also Brezinsek et al (2013 J. Nucl. Mater. 438 S303)), low oxygen content (x10) due to the Be first wall (Douai et al 2013 J. Nucl. Mater. 438 S1172-6) as well as the evolution of the material mix in the divertor. Initially, a short period of repetitive ohmic plasmas was carried out to study material migration (Krieger et al 2013 J. Nucl. Mater. 438 S262). After the initial 1600 plasma seconds the material surface composition is, however, still evolving. With operational time, the levels of recycled C are increasing slightly by 20% while the Be levels in the deposition-dominated inner divertor are dropping, hinting at changes in the surface layer material mix made of Be, C and W. A steady number of transient impurity events, consisting of W and constituents of inconel, is observed despite the increase in variation in machine operation and changes in magnetic configuration as well as the auxiliary power increase.

The tungsten source in the all W outer divertor and Be main wall configuration has been quantified mainly during L-mode plasmas and compared to AUG Data both gained from local spectroscopy. Results so far show differences between AUG and JET based on impurities in the plasma changing the sputter behavior. This stresses the need for detailed analysis of the divertor impurity composition and detailed molding in the future analysis. The H-Mode examples indicate at ELM dominated sputtering and a rather low averaged sputtering yield in general. Nitrogen seeding can change the divertor conditions significantly either increasing W sputtering or suppressing it due to local cooling, JET and AUG behave similarly. All together it is clear that by having low divertor temperature or a beneficial impurity composition sputtering can be controlled and is rather low as expected in an all metal environment.

Ion cyclotron wall conditioning (ICWC) is based on low temperature and low density plasmas produced and sustained by ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) pulses in reactive or noble gases. The technique is being developed for ITER. It is tested in tokamaks in the presence of toroidal magnetic field (0.2-3.8 T) and heating power of the order of 10(5) W. ICWC with hydrogen, deuterium and oxygen-helium mixture was studied in the TEXTOR tokamak. The exposed samples were pre-characterized limiter tiles mounted on specially designed probes. The objectives were to assess the reduction of deuterium content, the uniformity of the reduction and the retention of seeded oxygen. For the last objective oxygen-18 was used as a marker. ICWC in hydrogen caused a drop of deuterium content in the tile by a factor of more than 2: from 4.5x10(18) to 1.9x10(18) D cm(-2). A decrease of the fuel content by approximately 25% was achieved by the ICWC in oxygen, while no reduction of the fuel content was measured after exposure to discharges in deuterium. These are the first data ever obtained showing quantitatively the local decrease of deuterium in wall components treated by ICWC in a tokamak. The oxygen retention in the tiles exposed to ICWC with oxygen-helium was analyzed for different orientations and radial positions with respect to plasma. An average retention of 1.38x10(16) O-18 cm(-2) was measured. A maximum of the retention, 4.4x10(16) O-18 cm(-2), was identified on a sample surface near the plasma edge. The correlation with the gas inlet and antennae location has been studied.

Fuel inventory and generation of carbon and metal dust in a tokamak are perceived to be serious safety and economy issues for a steady-state operation of a fusion reactor, e.g. ITER. These topics have been explored in the on-going Ph.D. work in order to contribute to the better understanding and development of methods for controlling and curtailing fuel accumulation and dust formation in controlled fusion devices. The work was carried out with material facing fusion plasmas in three tokamaks: TEXTOR in Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), Tore Supra in Cadarache (France) and JET in Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (United Kingdom).

This thesis provides an account on studies of fuel removal techniques from plasmafacing components (PFCs) and on consequences of dust formation. Following issues are addressed: (a) properties of carbon and metal dust formed in the TEXTOR tokamak; (b) dust generation associated with removal of fuel and co-deposited layers from carbon PFCs from TEXTOR and Tore Supra; (c) surface morphology of wall components after different cleaning treatments; (d) surface properties of diagnostic mirrors tested at JET for ITER. The study dealt with carbon, tungsten and beryllium, i.e. with the three major elements being used for PFC in present-day devices and foreseen for a next-step machine.

Some essential results are summarised by the following.

(i) The amount of loose dust found on the floor of the TEXTOR liner does not exceed 2 grams with particle size range 0.1 mm – 1 mm. The presence of fine (up to 1 mm) crystalline graphite in the collected matter suggests that brittle destruction of carbon PFC could take place during off-normal events. Carbon is the main component, but there are also magnetic and non-magnetic metal agglomerates. The results obtained strongly indicate that in a carbon wall machine the disintegration of flaking co-deposits on PFC is the main source of dust: (ii) The fuel content in dust and co-deposits varies from 10% on the main limiters to 0.03% on the neutralizer plates as determined by thermal desorption and ionbeam methods: (iii) Fuel removal by annealing in vacuum or by oxidative methods disintegrates codeposits. In the case of thick layers, the treatment makes them brittle thus reducing the adherence to the target and, as a consequence, this leads to the formation of dust: (iv) Application of thermal methods for fuel removal from carbon-rich layers is effective only at high temperatures (above 800 K), i.e. in the range exceeding the allowed baking temperature of the ITER divertor: (v) Photonic cleaning by laser pulses effectively removes fuel-rich deposited layers, but it also produces debris, especially under ablation conditions: (vi) Photonic cleaning of mirrors exposed in JET results in partial recovery of reflectivity, but surfaces are modified by laser pulses.

The presentation of results is accompanied by a discussion of their consequences for the future development and the application of fuel and dust removal methods in a next-step fusion device.

Fuel inventory and generation of carbon and metal dust in a tokamak are perceived to be serious safety and economy issues for the steady-state operation of a fusion reactor, e.g. ITER. These topics have been explored in this thesis in order to contribute to a better understanding and the development of methods for controlling and curtailing fuel accumulation and dust formation in controlled fusion devices. The work was carried out with material facing fusion plasmas in three tokamaks: TEXTOR in Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), Tore Supra in the Nuclear Research Center Cadarache (France) and JET in Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (United Kingdom). Following issues were addressed: (a) properties of material migration products, i.e. co-deposited layers and dust particles; (b) impact of fuel removal methods on dust generation and on modification of plasma-facing components; (c) efficiency of fuel and deposit removal techniques; (d) degradation mechanism of diagnostic components - mirrors - and methods of their regeneration.

Two cleaning techniques were used for removal of co-deposits from the tested first mirrors exposed in JET: (a) ultrasonic bath; (b) a broad range of polishing conditions from manual buffing to machine polishing with the diamond grain size of up to 3 lm. Reflectivity measurements were performed after each step in the cleaning procedure. Surfaces were also examined with electron microscopy and ion beam analysis methods. Ultrasonic cleaning leads to partial recovery of reflectivity due to enhanced detachment of deposits. Typically 30-50% of the original reflectivity was recovered in the visible light and 50-90% in the infrared region. One mirror was cleaned completely. Polishing with diamond paste may lead to successful removal of deposits but the damage to the surface in case of the large diamond grains was observed. Recovery of up to 100% of the initial reflectivity was achieved for some mirrors.

A detailed survey of erosion and deposition on plasma-facing components was performed in the TEXTOR tokamak. Co-deposits and dust particles were collected from graphite limiters and from several locations on the Inconel liner. The total amount of dust (loose material), originating mainly from carbon-rich co-deposits detached from the limiters and the liner, was around 2 g, with sizes from 0.1 mu m to 1 mm. The morphology and fuel retention was determined using microscopy methods, ion beam analysis and thermal desorption spectrometry. The study revealed differences in structure and fuel content between deposits from the toroidal and main poloidal limiters. There were also splashes, up to 1 mm in diameter, of molten metal (mainly nickel) on the toroidal limiters. Issues of the dust conversion factor (erosion-to-dust) are addressed and a comparison with results of previous dust surveys at TEXTOR is also briefly presented.

The efficiency of two methods for in-situ fuel removal has been tested on carbon and tungsten limiters retrieved from the TEXTOR and Tore Supra tokamaks: laser-inducedablation of co-deposits and annealing in vacuum at elevated temperature. The analyses of gas phase and surfaces performed with thermal desorption spectrometry, optical spectroscopy, ion beam analysis, surface profilometry and microscopy methods have shown: (i) the ablation leads to the generation of dust particles of 50 nm – 2μm; (ii) volatile products of ablation undergo condensation on surrounding surfaces; (iii) D/C ratio in such condensate is in the range 0.02-0.03; (iv) long-term annealing of 623 K for 70 hours results in release of not more ~10 % of deuterium accumulated in plasma-facing components; (v) effective removal is reached by heating to 900-1300 K.

Generation and in-vessel accumulation of carbon and metal dust are perceived to be serious safety andeconomy issues for a steady-state operation of a fusion reactor, e.g. ITER. This contribution provides acomprehensive account on: (a) properties of carbon and metal dust formed in the TEXTOR tokamak; (b) dustgeneration associated with removal of fuel and co-deposit from carbon PFC from TEXTOR and Tore Supra; (c)surface morphology of wall components after different cleaning treatments. The amount of loose dust found on thefloor of the TEXTOR liner does not exceed 2 grams with particle size range 0.1 m – 1 mm. The presence of fine(up to 1 m) crystalline graphite in the collected matter suggests that brittle destruction of carbon PFC could takeplace during off-normal events. Carbon is the main component, but there are also magnetic and non-magnetic metalagglomerates. The fuel content in dust and co-deposits varies from 10% on the main limiters to 0.03% on theneutralizer plates. Fuel removal by oxidative methods or by annealing in vacuum disintegrates co-deposits and, in thecase of thick layers, makes them brittle thus reducing the adherence to the target. Also photonic cleaning by laserpulses produces debris, especially under ablation conditions. The results obtained strongly indicate that in a carbonwall machine the disintegration of flaking co-deposits on PFC is the main source of dust.

Systematic studies have been conducted to address the fuel re-absorption by carbon deposits under repeated exposure to plasma after cleaning procedures. The investigation was done with graphite tiles from ALT-II (Advanced Limiter Test II), i.e. the main limiter at the TEXTOR tokamak. Pure graphite plates were used as the reference material. The experimental programme comprised the following: pre-characterization of specimens; D desorption by baking the tile at 1273 K; surface analyses of the fuel-depleted layers; exposure to deuterium in a laboratory plasma device and in TEXTOR; and quantitative assessment of deuterium re-absorption. The main result is that fuel retention in the re-exposed deposits is 30–40 times lower than that in the original co-deposit, showing that fuel re-absorption does not lead to an immediate re-saturation of deposits. Annealing at high temperatures enhances layer brittleness, leading eventually to detachment of co-deposits.

The First Mirror Test in Joint European Torus (JET) with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor-like wall was performed with polycrystalline molybdenum mirrors. Two major types of experiments were done. Using a reciprocating probe system in the main chamber, a short-term exposure was made during a 0.3 h plasma operation in 71 discharges. The impact on reflectivity was negligible. In a long-term experiment lasting 19 h with 13 h of X-point plasma, 20 Mo mirrors were exposed, including four coated with a 1 mu m-thick Rh layer. Optical performance of all mirrors exposed in the divertor was degraded by up to 80% because of beryllium, carbon and tungsten co-deposits on surfaces. Total reflectivity of most Mo mirrors facing plasma in the main chamber was only slightly affected in the spectral range 400-1600 nm, while the Rh-coated mirror lost its high original reflectivity by 30%, thus decreasing to the level typical of molybdenum surfaces. Specular reflectivity was decreased most strongly in the 250-400 nm UV range. Surface measurements with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and depth profiling with secondary ion mass spectrometry and heavy-ion elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) revealed that the very surface region on both types of mirrors had been modified by neutrals, resulting eventually in the composition change: Be, C, D at the level below 1x10(16) cm(-2) mixed with traces of Ni, Fe in the layer 10-30 nm thick. On several exposed mirrors, the original matrix material (Mo) remained as the major constituent of the modified layer. The data obtained in two major phases of the JET operation with carbon and full metal walls are compared. The implications of these results for first mirrors and their maintenance in a reactor-class device are discussed.

Material migration and the resulting evolution of plasma facing surfaces were studied at the beginning of the JET ILW campaign using the singular opportunity of well-defined initial conditions with virgin Be and W wall components. In a sequence of identical Ohmically heated discharges the evolution of wall material sources as well as that of residual impurity sources were studied by spectroscopic detection of suitable emission lines of corresponding neutral atom and singly charged ion species in the visible spectral range. The evolution of divertor surface composition resulting from wall material migration occurred at a similar time scale as previously observed in Be migration experiments in the JET carbon wall configuration. In contrast to these experiments with initial Be evaporation on the carbon main chamber wall, the JET ILW migration experiment is characterised by a continuous Be wall source because the main chamber wall now consists of bulk Be components. The experiment further reveals unexpectedly high Be deposition at W divertor surfaces already during preceding limiter discharges for system commissioning, which has implications for predictive modelling of the expected fuel retention in ITER.

Cleaning systems of metallic first mirrors are needed in more than 20 optical diagnostic systems from ITER to avoid reflectivity losses. Currently, plasma sputtering is considered as one of the most promising techniques to remove deposits coming from the main wall (mainly beryllium and tungsten). This work presents the results of plasma cleaning of rhodium and molybdenum mirrors exposed in JET-ILW and contaminated with typical tokamak elements (including beryllium and tungsten). Using radio frequency (13.56 MHz) argon or helium plasma, the removal of mixed layers was demonstrated and mirror reflectivity improved towards initial values. The cleaning was evaluated by performing reflectivity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ion beam analysis.

Following the completion in May 2011 of the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and the tungsten divertor, the first set of JET campaigns have addressed the investigation of the retention properties and the development of operational scenarios with the new plasma-facing materials. The large reduction in the carbon content (more than a factor ten) led to a much lower Z(eff) (1.2-1.4) during L- and H-mode plasmas, and radiation during the burn-through phase of the plasma initiation with the consequence that breakdown failures are almost absent. Gas balance experiments have shown that the fuel retention rate with the new wall is substantially reduced with respect to the C wall. The re-establishment of the baseline H-mode and hybrid scenarios compatible with the new wall has required an optimization of the control of metallic impurity sources and heat loads. Stable type-I ELMy H-mode regimes with H-98,H-y2 close to 1 and beta(N) similar to 1.6 have been achieved using gas injection. ELM frequency is a key factor for the control of the metallic impurity accumulation. Pedestal temperatures tend to be lower with the new wall, leading to reduced confinement, but nitrogen seeding restores high pedestal temperatures and confinement. Compared with the carbon wall, major disruptions with the new wall show a lower radiated power and a slower current quench. The higher heat loads on Be wall plasma-facing components due to lower radiation made the routine use of massive gas injection for disruption mitigation essential.

Metallic mirrors will be essential components of all optical spectroscopy and imaging systems forplasma diagnosis that will be used on the next-step magnetic fusion experiment, ITER. Any change of the mirrorperformance, in particular reflectivity, will influence the quality and reliability of detected signals. On therequest of the ITER Design Team, a First Mirror Test (FMT) has been carried out at JET during campaigns in2005-2007 and 2008-2009. To date, it has been the most comprehensive test performed with a large number oftest mirrors exposed in an environment containing both carbon and beryllium; the total plasma time (in 2005-2007 period) over 35 h including 27 h of X-point operation. 32 stainless steel and polycrystalline molybdenumflat-front and 45oangled mirrors were installed in separate channels of cassettes on the outer wall and in the MkII HD divertor: inner leg, outer leg and base plate under the load bearing tile. Post exposure studies comprisedreflectivity measurements and surface analyses with microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, ion beamanalysis and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.. The essential results are: (i) on the outer wall highreflectivity (~90%) is maintained for mirrors close to the channel entrance but it is degraded by 30-40 % deeperin the channel (ii) reflectivity loss by 70-90% is measured for mirrors placed in the divertor: outer, inner andbase; (iii) deuterium and carbon are the main elements detected on all mirror surfaces and the presence ofberyllium is also found; (iv) thick deposits show rough columnar structure and thickness is 1-20 μm; (v) bubblelike structures are detected in deposits; (vi) the deposition in channels in the divertor cassettes is pronounced atthe very entrance; (vii) photonic cleaning with laser removes deposits but the surface is damaged by laser pulses.In summary, reflectivity of all tested mirrors is degraded either by erosion with CX neutrals or by the formationof thick deposits. The implications of results obtained for first mirrors in next-step device are discussed andcritical assessment of various methods for in-situ cleaning of mirrors is presented. The conclusion is thatengineering solutions should be developed in order to install shutters or to implement a cassette with mirrors toreplace periodically the degraded ones

Volatile tungsten hexa-fluoride was locally injected into the TEXTOR tokamak as a marker for material migration studies. The injection was accompanied by puffing N-15 rare isotope as a nitrogen tracer in discharges with edge cooling by impurity seeding. The objective was to assess material balance by qualitative and quantitative determination of a global and local deposition pattern, material mixing effects and fluorine residence in plasma-facing components. Spectroscopy and ex situ ion beam analysis techniques were used. Tungsten was detected on all types of limiter tiles and short-term probes retrieved from the vessel. Over 80% of the injected W was identified. The largest tungsten concentration, 1 x 10(18) cm(-2), was in the vicinity of the gas inlet. Co-deposits contained tungsten and a mix of light isotopes: H, D, He-4, B-10, B-11, C-12, C-13, N-14, N-15, O-16 and small quantities of F-19 thus showing that both He and nitrogen are trapped following wall conditioning (He glow) and edge cooling.

The first mirror test for ITER in JET with carbon walls has been completed. Thirty polycrystalline Mo mirrors including four coated with a 1 μm rhodium (Rh) film were exposed to plasma in the divertor region and in the main chamber. The mirrors were installed in eight cassettes of pan-pipe shape. The reflectivity of all mirrors exposed in the divertor has been degraded by 80–90% because of the formation of thick (>20 μm) flaking co-deposits on surfaces. Only small reflectivity losses (5–10%) occurred on mirrors located at the channel mouth of the cassettes from the main chamber wall. This is due to the in situremoval of deposited species by charge exchange neutrals. Deuterium, 12C and 9Be are the main isotopes detected on surfaces, but other isotopes (13C) are also found in some locations, thus indicating differences in the material migration. Rhodium coatings with an initial reflectivity that is 30% better than that of pure Mo survived the test without detachment, but their resultant reflectivity was the same as that of the exposed Mo surfaces.

An overview of several techniques considered for fuel and co-deposits removal is given. The methods were tested both on plasma-facing components from the TEXTOR tokamak and on laboratory-prepared layers: (a) chemical approach based on oxidative or nitrogen-assisted plasma; (b) photonic methods with laser-induced fuel desorption or ablation of co-deposits; (c) thermal desorption in vacuum or under oxidative conditions at a broad range of temperatures. The emphasis is on outstanding issues associated with every technique aiming at the reduction of fuel content: the efficiency of fuel and co-deposit removal, the surface state of PFC following the treatment and dust generation.

This paper presents a demonstration experiment of ion cyclotron wall conditioning (ICWC) on TEXTOR covering all ITER wall conditioning aims and discusses the implications for ITER. O-2/He-ICWC applied to erode carbon co-deposits removed 6.6x10(21) C-atoms (39 pulses, 158 s cumulated discharge time). Large oxygen retention (71% of injected oxygen) prevented subsequent ohmic discharge initiation. Plasma operation was recovered by a 1h47 multi-pulse D-2-ICWC procedure including pumping time between pulses with duty cycle of 2 s/20 s, cleaning the vessel from oxygen impurities, followed by a 23 min He-ICWC procedure (2 s/20 s), applied to desaturate the deuterium-loaded walls. A stable ohmic discharge was established on the first attempt right after the recovery procedure. The discharges showed improved density control and only slightly increased oxygen characteristic radiation levels (1-1.5 times). After the recovery procedure 36% of the injected O-atoms remained retained in the vessel, derived from mass spectrometry measurements. This amount is in the estimated range for storage in remote areas obtained from surface analysis of locally exposed samples. The removed amount of oxygen by D-2 and He-ICWC obtained from mass spectrometry corresponds to the retention in plasma-wetted areas estimated by surface analysis. It is concluded that most of the removed oxygen stems from plasma-wetted areas while shadowed areas, e. g. behind poloidal limiters, may feature net retention of the discharge gas. On ITER, designed with a shaped first wall, the ICWC plasma-wetted area will approach the total surface area, reducing consequently the retention in remote areas. A tentative extrapolation of the carbon removal on TEXTOR to tritium removal from co-deposits on ITER in the 39 x 4 s O-2/He-ICWC discharges, including pumping time between the RF pulses, corresponds on ITER to a tritium removal in the order of the estimated retention per 400 s DT-burn (140-500 mgT (Shimada and Pitts 2011 J. Nucl. Mater. 415 S1013-6)).

A complete global balance for carbon in JET requires knowledge of the net erosion in the main chamber, net deposition in the divertor and the amount of dust and flakes collecting in the divertor region. This paper describes a number of measurements on aspects of this global picture. Profiler measurements and cross section microscopy on tiles that were removed in the 2009 JET intervention are used to evaluate the net erosion in the main chamber and net deposition in the divertor. In addition the mass of dust and flakes collected from the JET divertor during the same intervention is also reported and included as part of the balance. Spectroscopic measurements of carbon erosion from the main chamber are presented and compared with the erosion measurements for the main chamber.

A set of stainless steel (SS) and molybdenum mirror samples located in the divertor and at the outer mid-plane of the vessel were exposed in JET from 2005 to 2007. A selection of these mirror samples with well adhered deposits (i.e. not flaking) of up to a few hundred nanometers in thickness and with Be/C ratios ranging from 0 to similar to 1 have been cleaned using a laser system developed at CEA, Saclay. Following laser cleaning the recovered reflectivity was generally better in the infrared than the visible spectrum, with recovery of up to 90% of the initial reflectivity being obtained at 1600 nm for both Mo and SS mirrors falling as low as 20-30% of initial reflectivity at a wavelength of 400 nm for some SS mirrors, rising to similar to 80% for Mo mirrors. Some deposit remained on the mirrors after the cleaning trials.

A set of seven polycrystalline mirror samples retrieved from the JET tokamak has been cleaned in vacuum using a pulsed laser system. The surfaces of samples exposed to plasma during 2008-2009 campaigns as part of the second phase of a comprehensive first mirror test contained a mixture of carbon, beryllium and tritium. For this reason, the samples were treated in a vacuum chamber constructed specially for this purpose. In some cases mirrors show an increase of the specular reflectivity after cleaning, though beryllium and carbon deposits were not fully removed. Additionally, three samples coated in PISCES-B with a 110-120 nm beryllium layer were subjected to laser cleaning tests as well.